The killing of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink in 2007 was the Fetullah Terrorist Organization’s (FETÖ) first attempt to overthrow the Turkish state, according to details that emerged Tuesday.
Dink, editor-in-chief of the dual language Agos newspaper, was killed outside his Istanbul office on Jan. 19, 2007, in a case that has since stirred outrage and intrigue.
Prosecutors on Monday indicted FETÖ leader Fetullah Gulen over the journalist’s murder in the latest charges to be levelled against the alleged organizer of last July’s coup attempt.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office asked for a life sentence for Gülen, a judicial official said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.
“Dink’s murder was the beginning of violent acts of FETÖ/PDY in order to take over the legislative, executive and judicial organs and all the other state institutions, including the armed forces and police,” the indictment said.
The 120-page indictment added that soldiers and police involved in the Dink murder later played an active role in the July 15 attempted coup, in which 249 people were killed.
“Although some public servants knew the potential suspects and those who carried out the murder, they did not hinder the killing,” the document said. “On the contrary, they participated in the crime.”
It added: “It is impossible to accept that the Dink murder was carried out beyond the knowledge and order of Fethullah Gülen, if one considers the positions of civil servants in FETÖ.”
The document cited two other cases in the mid-2000s -- the Ergenekon and Sledgehammer operations -- as other conspiracies to overthrow the government.
Gülen, who has lived in the U.S. since 1999, has previously been charged over forming an armed terrorist organization as well as with orchestrating the defeated coup.
It is the third indictment prepared in relation to the shooting of Dink.
Ogün Samast, who was aged 17 at the time of the killing, was convicted of carrying out the murder but speculation at the involvement of others has persisted.
Monday’s indictment is the first time the Fetullah Terrorist Organization has been officially tied to the case.
Gülen, former prosecutor Zekeriya Öz, the former editor-in-chief of the Gülenist Zaman newspaper Ekrem Dumanlı as well as journalists Adem Yavuz Arslan, Faruk Mercan and Ercan Gün are charged with “intentional killing” and “attempting to remove the constitutional order”.
The latest indictment was sent to Istanbul’s 14th High Criminal Court on Monday, which is expected to approve or reject it within 15 days.
